cost of capital

Definition

The opportunity cost of an investment; that is, the rate of return that a company would otherwise be able to earn at the same risk level as the investment that has been selected. For example, when an investor purchases stock in a company, he/she expects to see a return on that investment. Since the individual expects to get back more than his/her initial investment, the cost of capital is equal to this return that the investor receives, or the money that the company misses out on by selling its stock.

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Related Terms

capital rationing, hurdle rate, economic value added

'cost of capital ' appears in the definitions of these terms on BusinessDictionary.com
 



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